Good afternoon all, Admittedly representing several brands as a dealer and a tech rep, we've found the instruments that we sell to hold up; that's why we sell them. I suppose that's one of the advantages of having an RPT making those decisions for a company regarding what to sell. At the entry level, the Kohler and Campbell studios have held up well and the Knabes have done exceptionally well. Samick has come light years from where they used to be and anyone who hasn't played a recent production instrument needs to check them out. Many people have yet to see the W. Hoffmann that is built by Bechstein but we can't keep them in stock and I know that the factory is back-logged trying to keep up with orders (while they expend production and maintain quality.) The Bechstein Academy A2 is a step up in price but gets the institution into a German-built piano for the more particular settings. Once you play one, you'll know. I totally agree with Ed regarding the need for pianists to play on different instruments and need to look up the message that Rick Florence posted a few years ago; one of the best arguments I've heard for why musicians need broad exposure to the capabilities and limitations of various brands and models. Just some thoughts from what I've seen working well and that I maintain on a regular basis. Allan Allan Gilreath, RPT Registered Piano Technician President - Allan Gilreath & Associates, Inc. website - www.allangilreath.com <http://www.allangilreath.com> email - allan at allangilreath.com <mailto:allan at allangilreath.com> phone - 706 602-7667 On 1/21/2011 9:43 AM, Ed Foote wrote: > > > Our music departent was awarded enough money to replace about 15 > verticals for the practice rooms, and the dean asked if I could > suggest which models to look into. > Right how we're leaning toward U-1's. What do you like/don't like, > and why? > > Greetings, > Aside from a growing collection of restored Steinways, we have a > lot of Yamahas at Vanderbilt. Some of them are from the late 60's and > amazingly, are still working well. The quality of those years was > higher than the 10 year old U-3's we also use, based on durability of > pinning, longevity of keybushing, hammer wear, and overall > construction. The later models have cheaper pedal assemblies, > twangier bass strings,noisy dampers and cheaper hardware,(why can't > they use a little heavier metal on things like music rack hinges, > pedal arms, etc.) > The Yamaha's also seem to use plastic in numerous areas that get > noisy, like the pedal pin dowels and trapwork. > We have, in the last few years, gone with Kawai K-3 pianos, and > they hold up well. Some pinning looseness, but in the practice room > world, that is almost to be expected. I also like the ABS parts in > the actions, as humidity changes are now unimportant, and I think the > composite material is more durable, accurate, and stable than the > wood. They certainly stay put under heavy use. > Walter pianos are real durable, and I think higher quality than any > of the imports, but budget busters. > Another consideration is whether it is in the best interest of the > students to have only one brand of piano. I personally think that the > "All Brand" concept is a dumb thing for a school to buy into. It is > not a single brand world out there, and students need to come out of > school with as broad an experience as possible. > Regards, > Ed Foote RPT > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut.php/attachments/20110122/be738151/attachment-0001.htm> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 2007-RPT-Logo-Web.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 13287 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut.php/attachments/20110122/be738151/attachment-0001.jpg>
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